Blessed

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BLESSED

Matt 11:1-6

11:1 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.   2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" 4 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." 

NIV

We could make a point about John being in prison and wondering if Jesus is the one. John might have thought that if Jesus was the one, why then was he in prison. Why didn’t Jesus, if he is the Savior of the world, save him from going to prison. But we know it was John’s own fault because of accusing the king of adultery and we also know the wrath of a woman scorned is nothing to mess with. Yet, it seems he still was questioning. But on the other side of the coin, John had already indicated to his disciples that he must decrease, and Jesus must increase. However, there John was in prison and his disciples were still hanging around him, just outside his cell. We are not told, but it makes sense to us that John wanted his disciples to see they needed to leave and follow Jesus for, indeed, he is the one. No one, since the beginning of time has had the authority over blindness, lameness, skin disease, deafness, and the resurrection of the dead, other than Jesus. We know for sure no one will ever have that kind of authority again, however, we also know that Jesus has given us the authority over much of what He did. We do not need to ask the question that John did, but at the same time, we do have to ask ourselves if we truly believe all that Jesus said and did. If we believe then we need to be living in the reality of the kingdom of God, and not get it mixed up with the illusion of this world. If Jesus gave a blind man sight, then his blindness was only an illusion of the world, for in the reality of the kingdom, once the man encountered the kingdom of God, he could see. This is how we must make this transition of living with this illusion into living with reality. There is so much power available in the kingdom of God, and we have been called out from this world into the kingdom. Let us shake off the dust from our feet to this unwelcoming world of illusions and join our Lord in His kingdom. No illusion here in this world can cause us to fall away from our reality, knowing Jesus is the Lord of lords, the King of kings, the almighty creator of heaven and earth. Jesus has given us authority and we need to be living in that authority, and not get distracted by this world. Because we have decided to follow Jesus and we have decided to continue to follow him to our last breath, we can be assured that we are blessed. This Greek word translated as blessed carries the meaning of being happy, content, fulfilled, satisfied, and connected to the names of God.